Back to School Snack Ideas

With the back-to-school season here, take some time to plan and think about healthy snack options to have for your learner. Virtual learning can also mean access to snacking more throughout the day. Here are some ideas to plan out your snacks for the week, and ways to keep snacks healthy!

Try to include protein, healthy fat, and fiber in each snack to help balance blood sugar throughout the day.  When we think of kid’s snacks many of us think of chips, crackers, cereal bars, pretzels and easy-go-to-packaging. These snacks will spike our blood sugar, giving us quick energy, but then our blood sugar drops quickly, leaving us feeling tired and hungry and wanting more energy.  Do you hear “I’m hungry” throughout the day? Maybe switching up the snack to a more protein rich idea will help!

We like to think of snacks as a mini meal! These mini meals can fuel your students throughout the day to help them have the energy to go big throughout online school and during homework.

Some Mini Meal ideas include:

• Cheese and whole grain, rice or oat crackers and raw veggies
• Meat sticks, turkey/beef/impossible jerky some sliced fruit
• Plain yogurt topped with your favorite fruit toppings
• Guacamole and healthy corn chips for dipping and veggie sticks
• Homemade muffins packed with grated veggies like zucchini or carrots and fruit like berries, apples, and bananas.
• Peanut or nut butters with sliced fruit
• Steamed chicken breast diced up with slices of cheese and apples
• Rainbow plate: ask your student to put at least 5 different colors of fruit/veg on a plate
• Hummus, veggie sticks and pretzels

Try to include your student in the planning! Have them make a snack schedule for the week, make a shopping list and even make/prep their snacks! Take time to talk about portion sizes, what works and doesn’t for them and what are their favorite go-to fruits and vegetables to have on hand! Make it fun!

Hailey Chamberlain | WAVA CES- Community Engagement | Busy mom of 3